Dozens of res­i­dents of La Brea, who were af­fect­ed by an oil spill in De­cem­ber 2013, have suf­fered yet an­oth­er le­gal de­feat in their bid to sue the now-de­funct state oil com­pa­ny Petrotrin for neg­li­gence.

In a de­ci­sion late last month, three Law Lords from the Unit­ed King­dom-based Privy Coun­cil re­fused a spe­cial-pur­pose non-prof­it com­pa­ny rep­re­sent­ing 101 res­i­dents spe­cial leave to ap­peal con­sec­u­tive de­ci­sions by the lo­cal courts to block them from pur­su­ing a class ac­tion law­suit.

In a post on its web­site, the Privy Coun­cil said that the ap­peal did not raise a point of law of gen­er­al pub­lic im­por­tance.